Man due in court after €5.9m drugs and guns raids
Ken Foy – Published 19 April 2014 02:30 AM
Christy Kinahan Senior
A man who was arrested with eight other men as part of a major garda operation which targeted the Christy Kinahan gang is due to appear in court this morning.
A 45-year-old man is due to appear in court this morning in connection with the seizure of guns and ammunition and drugs worth €5.9m.
He was arrested with eight other men as part of a major garda operation which targeted the Christy Kinahan gang.
Sources said last night that there was now "deep paranoia" within the ranks of the drugs cartel following the raids.
The arrests on Thursday were the culmination of a two-month surveillance operation by gardai which involved them listening into phone calls of junior and mid-level members of the Kinahan mob.
Gardai were listening to every phone call that the dealers and their customers were making during that time period and this enabled them to arrest some of the suspects as drugs and money was being exchanged.
A large number of searches took place yesterday in north Dublin and Co Meath including in Cabra and Navan following on from Thursday's massive operation which yielded drugs worth €5.9m, as well as six firearms.
Christy's son Daniel remains in Dublin this weekend where he has been visiting an ill relative in hospital. He was not arrested as part of the operation.
A source said: "There will be a lot of paranoia floating around and a lot of fellas will be under huge pressure now. This was the biggest drugs bust of the year but the Kinahan gang have shown before that they can bounce back from things like this and they are sure to again."
Nine male suspects, comprising five Irish and four eastern Europeans, were detained during the raids. The suspects, aged between 29 and 46, are being detained at Blanchardstown, Clondalkin, Finglas, Ballymun and Store Street garda stations.
At around 7am on Thursday, gardai searched four industrial units in Navan and Dublin, three of which were being used as drugs storage depots.
Throughout the day, they stopped and searched cars and vans all over Dublin and found drugs and guns concealed in hidden compartments.
Six firearms including Russian made handguns similar to Glocks, a small pistol and a machine pistol were seized.
They found 150kg of cannabis herb, another 200kg of resin, around 100,000 ecstasy tablets and a powder substance believed to be cocaine.
Despite a massive international operation against Kinahan's gang in 2010 which led to Christy's arrest, gardai believe they have "re-invented" themselves and are using contacts in Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium to traffick drugs into Ireland.
Detective Chief Superintendent John McMahon said last night that gardai have "disrupted and dismantled a major gang which operated drug trafficking into Ireland".
The 45-year-old man is due to appear in court this morning while the other eight men remain in Garda custody.
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